JUNE
3rd & 5th
South Canterbury United 0 v Spirit 1
Waihopai 2 v Alexandra 1
Waihopai 0 v Caversham 3
Queens Park 5 v Old Boys 3
Despite
being without seven of its senior squad members Spirit FC won its Soccersouth
Premier league game against South Canterbury United 1-nil at Timaru on Saturday.
In
a game described by Manager Phil Williams as “a tough rugged encounter in
which Spirit’s gutsy performance and all round team effort deserved the
result,” a Karl Hawkes penalty after ten minutes of play gave it the win.
After
a nervous first ten minutes Spirit put a good exchange of passes together and
when Stu Kent moved into the penalty area to finish it off he was illegally
brought down by a South Canterbury defender and a penalty was awarded.
Hawkes
is no stranger to the pressure of penalty kicks and once again he gave his
opposition keeper little chance to make a save.
From
that point on it was a fight for Spirit to defend its lead and try to snatch an
extra advantage if the opportunity arose.
As
much as the home team created more chances and had Spirit defending desperately
at times the pairing of the Black brothers Marty and Stephen in central defence
once again proved the key to Spirit constantly repelling the threat from it’s
opponents attack.
In addition to the Blacks dominant performance Gore youngster Rhys Corbin was asked to fill the breach in midfield and no one worked harder than Corbin to ensure the success.
Spirit
still has some work to do to make an impact on the league but today’s result
meant it leapfrogged University and Grants Braes into eighth position on the
point’s table.
At
Surrey Park Waihopai won three valuable points in the Otago Fletcher Cup
competition and won back the Quinny Cup with a come from behind 2-1 win over
Alexandra.
Alexandra
struck first blood when Sammy Fields shot it ahead three minutes before half
time.
Waihopai
came out with all guns blazing at the start of the second spell and the
relentless pressure paid dividends when a Matty Burgess corner kick was
deflected into goal by an Alexandra defender to level it at 1-all.
Four
minutes later and with the Alexandra defence crying out for a handball offence
Dion Cameron volleyed Waihopai’s second and winning goal into the net.
The
game became a bit feisty for a few minutes after that goal and only settled down
after referee Alex Wilson red-carded Carl Henderson from Waihopai and Regis
Bougin from Alexandra for an off the ball incident.
Alexandra
tried desperately to get at least a share of the result but with the evergreen
Doug McIntosh, Chris Langley and Scott Rogers having top defensive games the
task proved beyond it.
The Quinny Cup
Chatham Cup Round 2 and Charity Cup final
Waihopai’s
Chatham Cup run came to an abrupt end yesterday when it lost 3-nil to Caversham
from Dunedin in their round-two clash a Surrey Park.
Waihopai
will receive the Churchill Rose Bowl as the team to progress furthest from
Southland in the Chatham Cup competition.
Yesterday’s game was expected to be a tough task for the local team, and so it proved to be with Caversham dominating play for long periods and creating enough chances to win easily.
Only
some exceptionally good work by the Waihopai goalkeeper Shane Harpur and some
less that accurate finishing by Caversham’s strikers restricted the scoring to
the three goals.
Croyden
Wheeler opened the scoring for the visitors when he received the ball from a
colleague after a poor Waihopai defensive clearance and slotted it past Harpur.
A
rare attack from Waihopai saw Wade Griffin free on the left flank, but his
volleyed strike skimmed the Caversham crossbar for Waihopai’s best chance of
the game.
Two
minutes from half time Tim Cook made it 2-nil when he latched on to a precision
pass from Mike Smith and angled his shot into the Waihopai net.
The
second half lacked any real atmosphere normally associated with knock out cup
football and mid way through the spell Caversham surprised Waihopai with a short
corner kick that Tim Cook took advantage of to drive in his second goal and seal
the 3-nil win for his team.
At
Waverley Park it was all action as Ascot Tavern Queens Park claimed the 2006
Charity Cup with a thrilling 5-3 win over Old Boys.
Old Boys dominated the game early on and took a 1-nil lead through a Dave McDowell goal.
Park was struggling to force home an equaliser until coach John Hunter introduced Hamish Low from the subs bench and he immediately levelled the score at 1-all.
Old
Boys kept Park at bay and the score remained level at the half time break.
Dominic Katavie put Park 2-1 ahead early in the second half and Tom Kent appeared to have sealed it when his goal gave Park a 3-1 advantage.
Back came old Boys though and Scott Kiddey reduced the margin to one goal at 3-2 before Park’s Jonny Cox restored it to 4-2 minutes later.
Andrew Elder rekindled Old Boys hopes with a fine goal to make the score 4-3 and ensure a thrilling finale.
However
it was to be Queens Park's day though and Stu Kent fired in the final goal of
the game to give his team the 5-3 win and the trophy.